Sunday, December 21, 2008

With a month off looming ahead, Union Hainaut (9-6) must have been hoping for a Villeneuve d'Ascq loss and a chance to move into fourth place in the Ligue Féminine. Despite the fact that they beat visiting Challes-Les-Eaux (10-5) by a score of 52-49, Union Hainaut certainly thought that they'd be at the top of the French League instead of sitting in fifth place and being flushed out of Euroleague play.

The box score is here. Union Hainaut puts an end to a five-game losing streak stretching over French League and Euroleague play.

It was either a defensive struggle for both teams or an offensive mess. At halftime, the score was only 24-19 in favor of Union Hainaut. Challes-les-Eaux was only able to score six second-quarter points. At one point, Union Hainaut led 34-22, but Challes-les-Eaux staged a comeback in the third quarter with an 11-0 run and Union Hainaut's lead was cut to one point, 38-37 at the end of the third quarter.

According to Women's Basketball in France, Emilie Duvivier of Challes-les-Eaux hit a shot to put the visitors in the lead. It didn't last long, however, as Union Hainaut went on a 7-0 run to go up 50-43. Somehow, Union Hainaut managed to hang on for the victory as they would only score with two more points for the rest of the game.

Shooting wasn't good on either side - Union Hainaut only shot 35 percent from the field, but Challes-les-Eaux only shot 33 percent. There wasn't much offensive rebounding from either side. Challes-les-Eaux was just a bit more sloppy with the ball, turning the ball over 20 times. They would also get no help at the free throw line, going to the line only four times and earning only three points from free throws.

Bernadette Ngoyisa was the player of the game for Union Hainaut, scoring 12 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. Tiffany Stansbury also had a great game, scoring four points, six rebounds and four steals. Chioma Nnamaka would only score six points and even though Clémence Biekes scored 11 points, she missed three free throws and had three turnovers. Most of her points were third-quarter points.

Laina Badiane would score nine points and seven rebounds for Challes-les-Eaux. Martina Luptakova-Gyursci scored 10 points, the only player to score in double figures for Challes-les-Eaux. Kirby Copeland, a former Virginia Tech player, would score two points in 13 minutes of play.